SHREYA DHITAL TO PARTICIPATE IN OLYMPIC HEATS Kathmandu, 1 Aug.: Shreya Dhital is participating on the heats of the women’s 100m freestyle in the London Olympics 2012 Wednesday. Five Nepalis are participating in the competition held once every four years. Without hope for collecting a medal, Nepalis are attempting to better their personal records at the competition that give the athletes international exposure. nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “The Maoists approached not only India but also wrote letters to other members of the international community saying that they were not a terrorist organization. If writing to India is a slur on nationalism, it is a slur to write to others.” (So-called Nepal expert but Indian Government operative Prof. SD Mini commenting on his own controversial chapter in a recently published book o Nepal, The Kathmandu Post, 1 Aug.) “The next elections would be conducted by a national unity government and the polls are possible only in mid-April next year,” (Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar, The Kathmandu Post, 1 Aug.) Nnnn HIGH-LEVEL NEPAL-CHINA MEET 11 AUG. Kathmandu, 1 Aug: Senior foreign ministry officials from Nepal and China will soon meet in Kathmandu to discuss bilateral relations, the status of China-funded projects in Nepal, mutual security and other related issues, The Kathmandu Post writes.. The ninth meeting of the Nepal-China Consultative Mechanism is slated for August 11 and is taking place after more than three years. Foreign Secretary Durga Prasad Bhattarai is leading the Nepali delegation while Fu Ying, Vice Foreign Minister for China will lead the Chinese side. “We will discuss the entire gamut of bilateral relations but have yet to finalise our agenda,” said Arjun Bahadur Thapa, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Outstanding issues including boundary talks, status of China-funded projects like the West Seti will be discussed and reviewed. Bilateral issues like trade, commerce, investment, border management, infrastructure development, tourism, connectivity and security are other issues to be discussed during the meeting. The Nepal-China Consultative Mechanism was established in April 1966 to be headed by the Nepali Foreign Secretary and the Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and is the highest level mechanism between the two countries. During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to Nepal on January 14, the two sides had agreed to make full use of existing mechanisms, including diplomatic consultations and the Nepal-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee Meeting. nnnn MAYOR STHAPIT SIPHONS OFF RS. 38.5 MILLION Kathmandu, 1 Aug.: Former mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Keshav Sthapit defied directives of the then All Party Mechanism (APM) to pay Rs 38.5 million that he “embezzled” while collecting octroi tax (chungi kar) during his tenure, according to KMC officials, The Kathmandu Post reports. Based on the Special Court (SC) verdict on June 29, 2009, the APM had issued a directive in the name of Sthapit to pay the amount some six months ago. A SC full bench led by Chairman Gauri Bahadur Karki had convicted him of embezzling of Rs 38.5 million while granting contracts to collect taxes. The court had also ordered the KMC to recover the loss from Sthapit. The verdict was made in response to a corruption case filed by the CIAA in 2006, seeking recovery of the loss from the defendant. “The decision of the CIAA has been upheld,” reads the SC verdict. “As Sthapit was responsible to cause losses to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the amount should be recovered from him.” Going against the law, Sthapit had abused his authority to appoint Sagar Prasad Wagle as the in-charge of Thankot-Balambu Depot to raise taxes to serve his personal interests. “He has not paid the money back till the date,” said a senior official at KMC seeking anonymity. “This is just an example. There are many cases of irregularities committed during his tenure.” According to the official, Sthapit has arbitrarily distributed a huge amount of the KMC budget to a few NGOs in the name of organising a sanitation campaign. Sthapit has been allegedly ignoring to comply with the directives, saying that the KMC cannot make such decisions on the case that is still under consideration at the Supreme Court. Challenging the SC decision, he had moved to the apex court demanding nullification of the previous verdict. But the court has heard no petitions in three years as his lawyers have been demanding postponement of hearing for several times, said Hemant Rawal, apex court assistant spokesperson. nnnn